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Heritage Minister Sheila Copps, with assistance from PM Jean Chrétien, wrapping herself in the Canadian flag.
[20 minute read]
January 21, 2023
At the turn of the New Year 2023, reports appeared in both the English and French language press speculating on US trade retaliation against Bills C-11 and C-18. Neither was triggered by a news event of any substance.
We are the biggest trade partner of the United States, marked by a trillion dollars of cross-border commerce annually. We have the misfortune of being so good at it that we have rung up trade surpluses with the Americans every year going back to the 1980s.
When your older and bigger sibling owes you money, expect you’re going to pay for the privilege. It’s easy to lose count of the unwarranted US trade retaliations against Canada over the years in agricultural products, softwood lumber, auto parts and cultural products.
The cultural disputes are special because Canada regards culture as special. That’s why we have negotiated the famous “cultural exemption” in our bilateral trade deals with the US and other nations. The US of course, with its enormous volume in cultural exports reducing its overall trade deficit, regards culture as just another product.
Previously MediaPolicy.ca recounted the story of the US-Canada trade dispute over the CRTC licensing of Country Music Television (CMT) and a dozen other US cable stations in 1995, “the half-billion dollar trade war that wasn’t.”
But CMT was only a dry run for the next dispute. The sequel was an iconic cultural trade dispute with far more money at stake: the “split-run magazine” fight that began in 1993 and culminated in an ugly confrontation in 1999. It ended in Canada ceding significant market access to split-run US magazines.
Although even the worst quarrels between the US and Canada must be put in the perspective of a healthy economic and political relationship, this one featured the personal targeting of Heritage Minister Shiela Copps, the Americans’ wild success at turning Canadians against each other, and cynical US threats of sweeping (and illegal) trade actions against Canada.
Canadian cultural policy aims to push back against the continental market forces of American media to create enough space for Canadian content to reach Canadian audiences. In the dominant paradigm of trade liberalization, that makes us protectionist.
Our policy is based on the peculiar nature of cultural “goods” as holding almost of all their value as intellectual property. Unlike conventional goods emerging unit by unit from factory assembly lines, the cost of making cultural goods is heavily loaded at the front end of making one ‘master’ copy. Once those costs are recovered, the marginal costs of selling more to new customers and export markets are very low.
In addition, the high risk of making successful cultural products —-caused by consumer demand that is notoriously difficult to predict—— favours gatekeeping media companies with significant market power.
Ergo the relentless drive of American media companies to recover their costs in their domestic market and then drive pure-profit expansion into foreign markets. Canada is their largest.
In resistance to the US juggernaut, many nations including Canada have developed a “policy toolkit” consisting of government subsides, public broadcasting, Canadian ownership, tariffs, revenue tithing, Canadian content regulations and tax policy.
All of these tools are subject to legal challenges by the US Trade Representative under the multi-lateral GATT and GATS trade deals supervised by the World Trade Organization, or the series of bilateral trade deals between the US and Canada in 1987, 1994 and culminating in the USCMA in 2017.
The nature of those trade agreements is that direct subsidies of domestic producers and public ownership are presumptively trade compliant; the remaining toolkit measures less so.
In the 1990s the Canadian magazine market was worth over a billion dollars annually in revenue, the majority from advertising.
While foreign magazines dominated 90% of the $800 million news stand market, Canadian magazines were extremely successful in building a subscription market that was boosted by a postal subsidy existing since 1849.
The dominant Canadian magazines were published by Rogers’ MacLean Hunter —-Maclean’s and Chatelaine—- and also the Montréal-based Télémedia (Canadian Living, Harrowsmith, and licensed Canadian editions of Elle and TV Guide).
Foreign magazines were widely sold provided they were imported with their original foreign advertisements and did not undercut Canadian magazines by re-selling the same editorial content to Canadian advertisers.
This prohibition against foreign “split-run” magazines (those republishing American editorial content to a Canadian audience with Canadian advertising) was enforced beginning in 1965 by an import ban, Tariff 9958.
There were only two exceptions to the ban on split-runs: Time magazine had been grandfathered in the 1965 import ban and Reader’s Digest had contrived a Canadian owned publishing company for its Canadian distribution.
Sleeping dogs lay quiet until the US-owned Time Warner decided in 1993 to wake them up by converting its Sports Illustrated magazine into a “split-run” selling Canadian advertising. The opportunity arose because of new technology: print-ready digital pages with Canadian advertisements could evade the border ban on hard copy magazines and be sent electronically to a Toronto-based printing house. Without the physical barrier of the import ban, Time Warner quietly got pre-approval from Investment Canada.
When it became public, the Canadian magazine industry was horrified by the approval. Sports Illustrated already had big sales in Canada and so was poised to bite off a big chunk of Canadian advertising dollars. And a split-run Sports Illustrated would be the model for other popular American magazines that aimed to get paid twice for the same editorial content.
Once aware and engaged on the file, Heritage Canada improvised on the unenforceable import ban.
The Liberal government of PM Jean Chrétien stepped in with an Excise Tax on US split-runs set at 80% of Canadian revenue, roughly equivalent to the split-runs’ expected profit margins. Following the report of a perfunctory Task Force investigation, the legislation C-103 was introduced in September 1995 and came into force in December 1995.
Previously in January 1995 the US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor had responded to the Country Music TV licensing dispute by threatening unilateral trade sanctions authorized by the notorious section 301 of the US Trade Act, once described as “a stick used to bludgeon the weak.”
But in the case of the Excise Tax on split-run magazines, Kantor chose the less confrontational option of filing a trade dispute.
He decided against taking up his option for dispute resolution under the NAFTA agreement, which included Canada’s exemption of “cultural industries” such as magazines from trade obligations but allowed the US to levy countervailing trade sanctions “of equivalent value.”
Not surprisingly, he filed at the World Trade Organization, alleging Canada’s violation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), an agreement containing no cultural exemption.
It’s a matter of speculation why Kantor passed up the opportunity to retaliate immediately on the split-run Excise Tax as he had with CMT. Perhaps there were undisclosed politics in play. Perhaps he was confident of litigation success.
As it turned out, he had reason to be confident.
Trade law can bewilder the newcomer. It’s based on an overlapping series of commercial contracts between nations.
The Canada-US trade agreements include the bilateral 1987 Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA) that evolved into the trilateral NAFTA 1994 and USMCA 2017 agreements with Mexico.
Canada and the US are also signatories to the multi-lateral agreements GATT (signed in 1947 but frequently updated) and the more limited 1994 General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
The impetus for the agreements is the principle of trade liberalization. But in practice, that philosophy is more honoured in the breach than the observance. The reality is that nations negotiate these agreements with a view to opening up export markets in other countries while opening up their own as little as possible.
The centrepiece in each agreement is Article I, the Most Favored Nation provision —-nations must not play favourites among foreign exporters—- and also Article III(2) on National Treatment; nations must not discriminate against foreign producers competing with domestic producers.
But in practice the agreements are rife with industry-specific exemptions, exceptions, reservations, limitations, conflicting language and even deliberately ambiguous language papering over irreconcilable differences.
Moreover the agreements do not mesh seamlessly with each other.
GATT governs trade in “goods.” GATS governs trade in “services.” But in spite of a clear schedule in GATS specifying which products are “services,” it is possible for products to be both a good and a service (as we discovered in the split-run litigation).
NAFTA (now USMCA) governs both good and services but exempts “cultural industries” which GATT and GATS do not.
Those cultural industries make “goods” like magazines and music CDs, but also “services” like film, broadcasting and other audio-visual products. Canada has taken advantage of GATS’ opt-out for our cultural “services.”
So it is different rules for different agreements, and —to make it even more messy— the agreements permit forum shopping for dispute resolution at the WTO (for violations of GATT and GATS) or trade arbitration (for violations of NAFTA/USMCA).
There’s no deeper rabbit hole than legal analyses of the WTO split-run magazine case. It’s been the subject of many scholarly articles.
The bottom line is the Americans won. They won at the initial WTO adjudication and won even bigger on appeal, issued June 30, 1997.
Predictably, the import ban on magazines went down in flames as an impermissible quota (of zero) in violation of Article XI(1) of GATT. Given the new technology of cross-border transmission of pages, the ban was toothless anyway.
More importantly, the Excise Tax in Bill C-103 was struck down.
Canada defended the tax as a levy on “advertising services” listed under a GATS schedule to which Canada had never subscribed and was not bound.
The WTO didn’t buy it, ruling that the tax was levied per issue on magazines that were consumer “goods” even if they included “advertising services.”
The WTO panel reasoned that a product could be both a good and a service, so GATT still applied. The panel still had to perform some interpretive gymnastics in order to hold that the split-runs void of any Canadian editorial content were “like products” to Canadian magazines, but they found a way. The tax was ruled unlawful.
That wasn’t all.
The US also decided that, since all is fair in a love, war and trade disputes, it would take the opportunity to challenge successfully Canada Post’s rate subsidy for Canadian magazines as discrimination in the distribution of goods contrary to GATT Article III(4).
The postal rate issue was not a total defeat for Canada: it was still open to the federal government to recraft the preferential postal rate for Canadian magazines by paying subsidies directly to 1400 magazine owners.
As a side note (because it became relevant in the final settlement in 1999), the US never challenged section 19.1 of Canada’s Income Tax Act which restricted Canadian businesses’ right to deduct magazine advertising expenses to ads published in Canadian owned periodicals.
The Canadian magazine industry viewed the WTO ruling as an existential defeat.
But it had a sympathetic ear from Heritage Minister Sheila Copps, the take-no-prisoners MP from Hamilton, Ontario.
Her response was Bill C-55 tabled in the House on October 8, 1998. Figuring they had a workaround on the WTO ruling that the Excise Tax was an illegal levy on the “goods” of hard copy magazines, Heritage officials devised new legislation that prohibited foreign magazine publishers from selling advertising to Canadians. “Advertising services” were covered by GATS, not GATT, and Canada was not bound.
US officials denounced the Bill. The new US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky accused Canada of thumbing its nose at the WTO adjudication process and said C-55 was “unabashedly protectionist.”
Retaliatory trade sanctions were in the cards and even if the US had chosen to play by NAFTA trade rules it had the right under that agreement to countervail the protection of Canadian magazines with sanctions in any sector, although crucially of equivalent commercial effect.
Of course Barshefsky and the Clinton administration had no intention of launching equivalent retaliation, just as they had ignored the same principle in the Country TV Music dispute. Importantly, the stakes in the magazine dispute, while difficult to quantify precisely, were of an order of magnitude larger than the cable TV dispute.
Clinton was under pressure from Congress on the trade file, according to an analysis in the Globe & Mail. He wanted Congress to delegate more negotiating autonomy to the US Trade Representative and to get it he continually had to deliver trade wins. Canada’s insolent defiance of the WTO ruling wasn’t helpful.
On the Canadian side, Heritage Minister Copps had the magazine industry’s back and the Liberals’ Ontario caucus was said to be hawkish on cultural issues.
A predictable policy tension existed between Heritage and Trade Minister Sergio Marchi, but the Prime Minister went out of his way to publicly back Copps and C-55.
On the Opposition benches, the Reform Party was vocally opposed to Canadian cultural policy in general and had demonstrated this during the Country Music TV dispute.
Clinton knew exactly how to play his cards.
On January 11, 1999 deputy US Trade Representative Richard Fisher met with Canadian Ambassador Raymond Chrétien in Washington D.C. He gave Chrétien the expected ultimatum: withdraw Bill C-55 and comply with the WTO ruling, or else.
As it was an informal meeting, the “or else” was never written down or published, rather it was passed on by both sides to the news media by leak or unattributed statements.
The “or else” was a series of US ‘section 301’ retaliations in the form of trade tariffs or bans on Canadian products in steel, plastics, clothing and also wood products not already restricted by the softwood lumber agreement between the two countries.
Canadian officials put a dollar value on the proposed retaliations at $3 billion to $4 billion, figures that were neither documented nor officially confirmed by either side. Later, an American publication reported an unattributed number of $650 million (USD), closer to $1 billion CDN.
As in the CMT dispute, the retaliations would be of far greater than “equivalent” value to US losses and, unlike the CMT dispute, they would be delivered in key sectors outside of Canada’s cultural industry.
The US choice of retaliation sectors were customized for the two leading Canadian Ministers on the file. MP Copps represented Hamilton, the home of Canada’s steel industry. Trade Minister Marchi’s Toronto riding was host to several plastics factories.
Copps’ public response was to defend C-55 as trade compliant and invite the US to seek dispute resolution.
Litigation would have provided an excellent political off-ramp for the Canadian government. But the Americans had no intention of doing so having in their view already won at the WTO.
It’s also possible Copps was getting encouraging legal advice on the merits of C-55’s workaround on the original WTO ruling. But an article written a year later by a young Yasir Naqvi (destined to be Ontario’s Attorney-General) is convincing that our chances were less than 50/50.
Canada also had the option of launching our own trade complaints against the overreaching section 301 retaliations as either slam dunk violations of GATT or non-equivalent retaliation under NAFTA.
But of course that would take time, and the US retaliation strategy was to create facts on the ground for Canadian politicians.
The American divide and conquer tactics enjoyed considerable success.
The opposition Reform Party did not support any of the tools in the Canadian cultural policy toolkit and was not averse to saying so in the middle of a trade dispute as evidenced during the 1995 Parliamentary debate over the Country Music TV dispute.
Reform Heritage critic MP Inky Mark castigated C-55 investigators (armed with powers of search and seizure) as “culture police.”
MP Jason Kenney told the House “the bill is folly. I have not had a single one of my constituents call me to ask for this kind of protectionism. But many have called to say ‘Please do not let this crazy effort by the Minister of Heritage destroy our jobs and impair our industry by provoking the Americans into a bilateral trade war.’”
The Reform caucus promised to bog the Bill down in Parliamentary delay tactics but in fact C-55 spent only a month in Parliamentary Committee and spanned five months from first to third reading.
The Americans’ prime ally was the Association of Canadian Advertisers. Already opposed to existing rules against corporate tax deductions for advertising in non-Canadian media, the ACA viewed C-55 as just another obstacle to lower advertising prices.
Association President Ron Lund portrayed C-55 as a sweetheart deal for the two dominant Canadian magazine companies, Telemedia and Rogers. The US Trade Representative was quick to pick up the talking point.
Perhaps the most disappointing Canadian voice in the debate was the Wholesale Remanufacturing Lumber Association which launched a public campaign opposing the Bill. No Canadian industry had drawn down more on the federal government’s political capital battling US trade sanctions in the previous 50 years than the Canadian industry in wood products.
In Copps’ hometown of Hamilton, the CEO of steel giant Dofasco, Gord Forstner, wrote a scathing letter to the Prime Minister opposing C-55 and then promptly leaked it to the Press.
In retort, Copps got support from the Steelworkers’ Canadian chief Lawrence McBrearty who denounced the sanction threats.
“Maybe,” he told a Parliamentary committee, “someone thinks it’s just fine to have a regime for trade in goods and services that does nothing to prevent the kind of blackmail on cultural policy that the U.S. is attempting with the linkage to steel trade…Canadians, and Canadian steelworkers, cannot allow this kind of blackmail to succeed.”
And this story is not complete without an anecdote that was both repugnant and heartwarming.
A week after trade sanctions were threatened, the Canadian edition of the pornographic Hustler magazine published its February issue that included a vulgar “contest” targeting Copps.
Copps sued and the magazine publisher issued a public apology in the Hamilton Spectator. More importantly, 600 Canadian retail outlets pulled the February issue from their shelves.
Negotiations began in February 1999 and ran on and off for three months with the typical mix of posturing and conciliatory statements that characterizes bargaining in the public eye.
Trial balloons for a compromise were floated in both US and Canadian press reports from unattributed sources. These included capping the number of split run magazines that could be sold or joint ventures between Canadian and American magazine owners. The latter idea was advocated by the Association of Canadian Advertisers.
A joint venture had been part of the solution to the Country Music TV dispute three years earlier. Westinghouse had agreed to a 33% share of the Canadian channel that had knocked them off of the cable dial and then licensed their American brand and content back to the joint entity.
The oncoming Third Reading of the Bill in the House of Commons on March 16th provided a bargaining deadline. It was anticipated that the US Trade Representative would have to respond to the vote by officially publishing its retaliation list and triggering a 90-day countdown to implementation.
This end-game dynamic must have resulted in a framework of a deal. Four days before the vote, deputy US Trade Representative Fisher announced the US had no immediate plans to publish the list. “I hope it does not become necessary,” he said, “because we are making progress on this issue. Perhaps quite unusual for Americans, we are willing to exercise a modicum of patience. I think this thing has run down the track much further than it needs to run.”
Copps responded with similar encouragement and then pointedly added “the Americans have to do their homework on [editorial] content.”
In the House, Copps added that “any future discussions must hinge on the concept of majority Canadian content.”
In retrospect, it seems that in early March a framework deal was in place with hard bargaining remaining to put numbers to the percentages of advertising market share and the amount of Canadian content in split-runs.
On March 16th C-55 passed Third Reading by a 196-43 vote.
On May 26th a deal in principle was announced.
The terms were as follows:
* US split-run magazines were allowed to earn up to 18% of their advertising revenue from the Canadian market. Bill C-55 would be amended to include this in a new section 21.1.
* Split-runs could exceed the 18% cap of Canadian ads if they published a majority of Canadian editorial content.
* If a split-run had at least 50% Canadian content, Canadian advertisers could claim 50% of their advertising expenses on their corporate tax returns. If the split run attained 80% Canadian editorial content, advertisers could claim 100% of advertising expenses. These changes to section 19.1 of the Income Tax Act were made a year later in June 2000. Significantly, the change in tax policy was not required by the WTO ruling, nor had it even been challenged by the US.
* The US waived any objection to Canada introducing direct federal subsidies to Canadian magazines. This was a “gimme”: direct subsidies are presumptively trade compliant under GATT. A year later the Liberals introduced a three-year $50 million annual subsidy program in the 2000-2001 budget and rebooted the postal subsidy program through a WTO-compliant direct postal reimbursement to magazine owners.
* Canada would allow foreign publishers to set up shop in Canada and own 100% of any newly established (but not existing) Canadian based magazine, provided the business met the section 38 ‘net benefit to Canada’ test in the Investment Act. The test included compliance with cultural policy, Canadian editorial content, competitive impact, and contribution to the Canadian economy. A crucial caveat was that the test would be administered by the Minister of Heritage, not Investment Canada.
The breadth of the agreement must have come as a shock to outside observers.
American ownership of Canadian magazines and changes to the Income Tax Act were not even on the table during the WTO litigation of the Excise Tax. An American waiver on federal subsidies to magazines was not a concession, it was forbearance on future trade harassment.
The key trade off in the deal appeared to be the 18% limit on split-runs’ freedom to sell Canadian advertising in exchange for incentives for US split-runs to carry a majority of Canadian editorial content, even to the point of owning Canadian magazines. The guiding policy principle was more Canadian content, regardless of who published it.
Next came the official government statements.
Copps issued the perfunctory claim of victory: “The US has firmly recognized Canada’s right to protect culture in international trade agreements. I think this is a win-win for Canada.”
Not long afterwards she conceded that threats of trade retaliation had forced the compromise.
“I live in the world of the possible. I wanted a good loss. What we have here is a good loss. I think it’s a good defensible compromise….I haven’t been a political idiot and I’m not going to start now.”
US Trade Representative Barshefsky issued a dignified statement on May 26th: “I am pleased we have negotiated a settlement to this long standing dispute with our largest trading partner. This is how the dispute settlement system should work. The agreement opens Canada’s magazine market and in so doing offers clear benefits to both Canada and the United States.”
But in a Washington Post report the following day, US officials appeared to gloat, saying anything Canada got out of the deal was purely a courtesy shown by President Clinton in recognition of his good relationship with Prime Minister Chrétien.
A more diplomatic source in Barshefsky’s office told the Post “our right under normal rules of trade is to have full and open competition…The agreement gives reasonable but not unfettered access to our publishers to Canada’s advertising market.”
As for domestic Canadian reaction, it was mixed.
Cultural nationalist voices denounced it. But the lead editorial in the Liberal-friendly (and nationalist) Toronto Star pronounced the deal a reasonable compromise.
Ron Lund of the Association of Canadian Advertisers was naturally pleased and declared the agreement “a great first step in terms of opening markets.”
The Canadian magazine industry was hugely disappointed even though publishers had seen this moment coming for some time.
The chair of the Canadian Magazine Publishers Association John Thomson said “the risk that US publishers will offer discounted advertising and subscription rates in order to capture Canadian market share is great.”
He predicted that discounted advertising rates offered by a flood of US split-runs would drive a large number of Canadian magazines out of business in the next three years.
Even with hindsight it is difficult to declare the split-run deal a win, loss or draw for Canadian cultural policy given the American leverage of a favourable WTO ruling on the Excise Tax, the uncertainty over any future WTO ruling on Bill C-55, and of course the considerable threat of US sanctions.
In her post-mortem of the deal, Toronto Star political reporter Rosemary Speirs opined that Copps would have preferred to litigate C-55 at the WTO (an option not practically available to the Minister) and that it was Chrétien who had taken control of the file and negotiated the final agreement.
In her 2005 autobiography, Copps concedes without rancour that the Prime Minister’s Office did the deal and even embellished the account by claiming that Chrétien’s friendship with Clinton dislodged Barshefsky’s more extreme positions.
Speirs concluded that Copps salvaged from the wreckage promises from the PMO to launch a significant subsidy program as well as transferring control over foreign investment in Canadian magazines to Heritage.
It would require an in-depth investigation beyond the reach of this post to measure the impact of the 1999 split-run settlement on the fortunes of the Canadian magazine industry.
Five years later Sheila Copps suggested in her autobiography that the magazine industry was doing alright. Canadian communications lawyer Peter Grant made the same observation that year in his book on Canadian cultural policy, Blockbusters and Trade Wars.
In fact in his 2013 Changing Channels autobiography, Grant offered an explanation of why the Canadian magazine market did not end up being overrun by US split-runs.
The 18% limitation on Canadian advertising in split-run editions meant their publishers had to show American advertising revenue for the other 82%. That meant charging American advertisers extra for inclusion in the Canadian edition.
An analysis of Canada’s magazine advertising market published in 2007 by an American academic reported that US magazines had treaded water in the Canadian market since 1999, while larger English-language Canadian periodicals lost ground to smaller Canadian magazines. To the extent there was a link to the split-run settlement, it’s possible that downward pressure on advertising rates had hurt large Canadian magazines and helped small ones, while fears of American domination of the market were not realized.
The fate of government subsidies deserves its own study as well. The magazine industry had not sought out subsidies as its consolation prize, fearing future governments would get tired of the expense, which according to one analysis is exactly what happened during the Harper administration.
By the 2010s the industry landscape would be forever altered by the availability of free online content and the rise of online advertising Goliaths, Facebook and Google.
The Canadian Periodical Fund still provides subsidies to Canadian-owned magazines in 2023.
What lessons can be drawn from the split-run dispute?
The most obvious is the American ability to create facts on the ground by threatening trade sanctions instead of submitting disputes to either WTO or NAFTA/CUSMA dispute resolution.
As a corollary, we surely can see the leverage accruing to the US when Canadians fall prey to divide and conquer tactics such as sector-targeted trade sanctions, even when they are often illegal and can be ultimately defeated.
Even if playing the short game of negotiating our way out of trade threats, we can see the value of Canadian solidarity in driving an acceptable outcome. These deals get done. To the extent that the result of the split-run agreement was a disappointment to Canadian cultural nationalists, that was driven mostly by the Americans’ ability to capitalize on the vulnerability of magazines to GATT rules as a “good,” which is not the case for audio-visual based media.
It’s also possible that lessons from the Country Music TV and split-run disputes have been over-learned by Canadian politicians and especially federal civil servants responsible for advising them.
If you close your eyes you can imagine the risk-averse advice given to current Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez over at least two controversial elements within Bill C-11: the lack of guaranteed access of Canadian programming services to foreign online platforms [ss. 9(1)(h,i)] and the lesser obligations of US streamers and studios to hire Canadian talent when making Canadian content [s.3(1)(f)].
A final lesson is an obvious one: the US regards Canada as an extension of its domestic market for cultural products. That will never change. We will have to keep defending our cultural policy toolkit from the Americans and, by now, they have come to expect it.
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6 thoughts on “The billion-dollar cultural trade war that was: the 1999 Canada-US split-run magazine dispute”
Such a strong beginining on the basics of Canadian cultural policy, strong middle on a blow by blow complete with characters, and a strong rallying cry finish. A ton of work, I guess, and a super result. Sincerely, one of your fans.
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Spokane firefighters responded to a two-alarm structure fire at a glass shop in the East Central neighborhood Wednesday afternoon.
Flames shot up from Tormino's Sash and Glass near Riverside and Helena just before noon. The business sells window and doors. Everyone inside the business made it out safely.
The building suffered major damage and the cause is under investigation.
(story and photo: KHQ.com)

domain: news


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EastNets, leading payment and security solutions provider for the financial industry, has announced that it has recently launched its new USA SWIFT Service Bureau (ENSB US) as part of its global strategy to boost market presence by expanding its range of services and products offered in North America.
EastNets also has announced the ambitious plan for enhanced customer operation centers after SWIFT has approved the launch of its USA Service Bureau.
The move follows EastNets' recent acquisition of SIDE International, the leading solutions provider for the financial industry and SWIFT Business Partner in the US. We will address the North American markets using EastNets services & products in addition to SIDE International's solutions, including its popular Anti Money Laundering SafeWatch Compliance Suite.
Commenting on the expansion, Hazem Mulhim, Chief Executive Officer, EastNets Group, said, "We are gaining traction in our operation in the US and are pleased to announce the expansion of our range of services with the opening of the EastNets USA Service Bureau (ENSB US). A key feature of EastNets is that it has an aggressive response and time to market ability which makes it an attractive solutions provider in a dynamic financial atmosphere such as the US. Our solutions have been proven and we aim to further improve our market reach and boost customer satisfaction with the new service bureau."


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WASHINGTON - U.S. regulators have approved T-Mobile's $26.5 billion takeover of rival Sprint, despite fears of higher prices and job cuts, in a settlement that would create three giant U.S. cellphone companies.
Friday's approval by the Justice Department and five state attorneys general comes after Sprint and T-Mobile agreed to conditions that would set up satellite-TV provider Dish as a fourth wireless company, so the number of major U.S. providers remains at four.
Dish is buying Sprint's prepaid cellphone brands including Boost and Virgin Mobile -- some 9 million customers -- and some spectrum, or airwaves for wireless service, from the two companies for $5 billion. It will also be able to rent T-Mobile's network for seven years while it builds its own. The Justice Department's antitrust chief, Makan Delrahim, said the settlement sets up Dish "as a disruptive force in wireless."
Sprint and T-Mobile combined would now approach the size of Verizon and AT&T. The companies have argued that bulking up will mean a better next-generation "5G" wireless network than they could make on their own.
The two companies tried to combine during the Obama administration but regulators rebuffed them. They resumed talks on combining once President Donald Trump took office, hoping for more industry-friendly regulators. The companies appealed to Trump's desire for the U.S. to "win" a global 5G race with China as this faster, more reliable wireless is rolled out and applications are built for it.
Meanwhile, the Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission agreed in May to back the deal after T-Mobile promised to build out rural broadband and 5G, sell its Boost prepaid brand and keep prices on hold for three years.
But public-interest advocates complained the FCC conditions did not address the problems of the merger -- higher prices, less wireless competition -- and would be difficult for regulators to enforce.
Attorneys general from 13 states and the District of Columbia then filed a lawsuit to block the deal. They say the promised benefits, such as better networks in rural areas and faster service overall, cannot be verified, while eliminating a major wireless company will immediately harm consumers by reducing g competition and driving up prices for cellphone service.
They are not likely to be satisfied by Friday's settlement. None of the states involved in the suit were part of it.
A judge must also approve the Justice Department's settlement.
Dish is largely a company with a declining satellite-TV business. It has no wireless business, but over the past decade it has spent more than $21 billion accumulating a large stock of spectrum for wireless service. The wireless industry has long been skeptical of Dish's ambitions to actually build a wireless service, instead speculating that the company wanted to make money by selling its holdings to other companies.
While Delrahim said the deal set Dish up as a major wireless company, it is not clear whether that will happen.
Recon Analytics founder Roger Entner, a longtime telecom analyst, said in an interview before the Justice Department's announcement -- many terms had been leaked to the press beforehand -- that the settlement was good for the incumbent wireless companies, as a weak competitor in Sprint is being replaced by an even weaker one in Dish.
Sprint, the current No. 4 wireless provider, has thousands of stores and other distribution points as well as a cellular network. Dish has none of that, although the settlement gives it the option of taking over some stores and cell sites that T-Mobile ditches over the next five years. Creating and maintaining a retail operation and network cost tens of billions of dollars, Entner said. He doubts that Dish could do that alone, as its core business is in deep decline, or that Dish could find a wealthier company to help it do so.
But New Street Research analysts say Dish could build a lower-cost network and provide cheaper plans for customers. Still, that could take years.
George Slover, senior policy counsel for Consumer Reports, also said in an interview earlier that the current structure of four competing providers works. He said it's not the same to diminish that while enabling a competitor that doesn't currently have the infrastructure. "Dish might become a competing network at some point but it's not there now."


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Nike brand account director to speak at sales, marketing conference
Nike’s North America brand account director Cindy King will discuss, “Strategic Brand and Retail Partnerships,” as the keynote speaker at the Oct. 26-27 Atlantic regional conference of business fraternity Pi Sigma Epsilon at Virginia Tech.
Pi Sigma Epsilon (PSE) is the national, co-ed fraternity for collegians and professionals in sales, marketing, and management.
The conference, to be held at the Holiday Inn in Blacksburg, Va., will feature two days of business development seminars, networking opportunities with professional and collegiate members, and various contests, including the Pro-Am Sell-A-Thon competition, conducted at each regional conference.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their parachute pants for a “totally 80’s” theme at the conference, said marketing instructor Donna Wertalik, the chapter’s faculty advisor and a vice president on PSE’s national council.
“We’re expecting more than 100 students to attend,” Wertalik said. Member schools in the Atlantic region are: the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, Appalachian State University, Winston-Salem State University, Elon University, James Madison University, Norfolk State University, George Mason University, North Carolina A&T State University, and Radford University.


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Samsung has recently launched Samsung Galaxy A series Smartphone which are Samsung Galaxy A10 , A30 and A50. There are two other Samsung Galaxy A series smartphone is Samsung Galaxy A40 and Galaxy A60 will be launches soon. There price are Leaked. Samsung Galaxy A10, A30 and A50 Prices will be same as Galaxy A40 and there price will be less 20,000 launches. This phone features are also Leaked.
Samsung Galaxy A40
It has 6.4 inches Full HD+ Infinity-U Super Amoled display. There resolution can be 1240×1080 pixels. It can be Exynos 7904 Chipset processor. However the company has not available official update of this phone. Galaxy A40 can be 4GB RAM with 64GB Internal Storage and it can be expand with Microsd card upto 512GB. It can be launches with Android 9.0 Pie and also it can be 4,000 MAh Battery Backup.
Samsung Galaxy A60
Samsung Galaxy A60 can be have bigger display than Galaxy A40. Samsung Galaxy A60 can be 6.7 inches Full HD+ Infinity-U Super Amoled display. It can be have U-shape Waterdrop Notch feature. It can be have In-fingerptint senor and also it can be have Tripple rear camera.
Primary Camera has 32MP, Secondary Camera has 8MP Ultra-Wide Angle lense and one has 5MP Sensor. For the selfie it can be 32MP Camera. and It can be Snapdragon 645 Chipset processor. It can be 6GB RAM with 128GB Internal Storage. It can be expand with Micro-sd card upto 512GB and also In back pannel it can be 3D glastic body. This phone will be globally launches in April and however the company has not available official statement.


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This Puzzle Is Missing Just One Big Piece: JobsBy
The economy has been sputtering during the past year because one key piston keeps misfiring. That's job growth, and a recovery cannot keep moving forward under its own power without it. The latest data show that housing, exports, and especially consumer spending were pumping hard in the first quarter. Now, there are some hints that the labor markets are getting ready to kick in.
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Luda, a company specializing in AI agents, has launched a new system called Real-Time Reinforcement Learning (RT-RL). This system enables users to create AI creations that can interact and behave according to physics without requiring coding or animation skills. Luda has secured $7 million in funding for its AI work, with investments from Bitkraft Ventures, Compound, and prominent figures such as Google’s chief scientist, Jeff Dean, and Transformer paper co-author, Illia Polosukhin. Scott Rupp, partner at Bitkraft, believes Luda’s breakthrough has the potential to revolutionize consumer interaction with AI, particularly in the gaming industry.
Luda’s users can create their AI agents through Mels, a real-time browser-based simulation that animates them using generative AI. These agents utilize Accelerated Learning, Low-Latency Inference, and Human Interactivity. The company believes these agents are well-suited for user-generated content (UGC) gameplay, as anyone can create them. Vijay Sundaram, founder and CEO of Luda, states that their goal is to create a new consumer category where immersive and interactive AI agents can be easily crafted through an accessible and enjoyable experience.
In summary, Luda has introduced Real-Time Reinforcement Learning (RT-RL), a system that allows users to create AI agents that interact and behave based on physics without needing to code or animate. The company has raised $7 million in funding, with investments from Bitkraft Ventures, Compound, Jeff Dean, and Illia Polosukhin. Luda’s users can utilize Mels, a real-time browser-based simulation, to animate their AI agents using generative AI. These agents are designed for user-generated content gameplay, making AI creation accessible to all users. Luda envisions a new consumer category that combines human creativity, social connection, and user-generated agents.


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Facebook recently announced a new location-based feature for its mobile apps called Nearby Friends. It will allow users to see which of their friends who have the location feature activated are nearest to their current location. Location apps and features have grown in recent years, but how many might be interested in using Facebook’s Nearby Friends feature?
In Ask Your Target Market’s latest survey, just 14% of respondents said they currently use dedicated location-based apps such as Foursquare. Another 14% said they have used these types of apps in the past. And 73% said they have never used location-based apps like Foursquare.
But it’s not just dedicated apps that use location data. General social media sites and apps have also integrated plenty of location-based features. Currently, 8% of respondents said they often use location features on social media platforms like Facebook. 19% said they sometimes use location-based social features. 21% said they rarely use these features. And 52% have never used location-based features on social media sites.
More specifically, 24% of overall respondents said they often use Facebook on their phone or mobile device. 21% said they sometimes use Facebook mobile. 13% said they rarely use Facebook mobile. 31% said they never use Facebook on mobile devices. And 12% do not use Facebook at all.
19% of those mobile users said they would definitely be interested in using a feature that shows which of their friends are nearest to their current location. 39% said they would probably be interested in such a feature. 31% said they probably wouldn’t be interested. And 11% said they definitely wouldn’t be interested in Facebook’s new Nearby Friends feature.
You can view the complete survey results in the widget below and be sure to click “Open Full Report” to take advantage of all the chart and filter options.
What do you want to know? If you need some consumer insights on a particular topic, let us know in the comments below and we’ll consider it for an upcoming survey post.
Results were collected on April 21 via AYTM’s online survey panel.


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Google Glass may not be being developed out in the open anymore but that doesn't mean we aren't learning anything new about Google's plans for the wearable. A new report is suggesting that Glass will extend in to a range of products, rather than just being the one wearable.
The Glass team is currently recruiting, with some job postings suggesting that there may be other Glass related projects going on. According to Business Insider, Google wants its new recruits to work on smart eyewear alongside “other related products”.
The statement itself is pretty vague so we don't actually know what else Google could be thinking about cooking up. However, whatever else Google is playing around with would probably be quite interesting.
Google will likely continue to take an augmented reality approach with Google Glass in order to compete with Microsoft and its upcoming Hololens, which has managed to garner up tons of interest since its reveal back in January.
Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.
KitGuru Says: Google is still hard at work on reinventing its Glass wearable. Not many people were impressed with the initial incarnation, so it will be interesting to see what Google comes up with next now that the wearable has been pulled back behind closed doors.


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India’s largest gaming company, Delta Corp, has put on hold plans to take its online gaming division public amid ongoing uncertainty around how the sector will be taxed moving forward.
According to local media group moneycontrol, which covers the Indian economy and financial markets, a planned IPO has been postponed while Delta Corp awaits further clarification around a proposed 28% tax on the turnover of online gaming companies, horse racing and casinos.
The GST Council, which announced the tax on 11 July, is due to meet today with the industry anxiously awaiting further clarification.
“The investing community obviously would want absolute crystal clarity when it comes to online gaming and they would want a clear picture as to what the way forward is and without which, nobody is going to put $1 into any new investment, especially in a sector which has this kind of overhang,” said Delta Corp CFO Hardik Dhebar.
Excluding GST, Delta Corp’s online gaming segment, which includes poker and rummy site Adda52, contributed 15% of the company’s net revenue in 2Q23 although Dhebar described it on a segment revenue basis as still negative.
“We are hoping to turn [(online gaming revenue] positive in the third quarter,” Dhebar said, as per moneycontrol.
Despite the uncertainty around online gaming, Delta Corp last week reported its highest ever quarterly consolidated gross revenues of Rs 338 crores in 2Q23, buoyed by strong results in its land-based and offshore casino business.


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Local Dairy, Agri Products Under GST; Know What Else Will Cost More
New Delhi: Unbranded but packed (local) dairy and agricultural products will be brought within the ambit of a 5 per cent tax rate slab. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has accepted the recommendations of a panel of State Finance Ministers and Fitment Committee to do so.
‘Pre-packaged, labelled’ and agri products such as lassi, buttermilk, packaged curd, wheat flour, other cereals, honey, papad, foodgrains, meat & fish (except frozen), puffed rice, jaggery are all set to become costlier once Union Finance Ministry issues a notification to implement the GST Council decision, NDTV reported, adding that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to brief the media on the outcomes of the 47th GST Council meeting at 4 pm today.
Currently, a 5 per cent GST is levied on branded and packaged food items, while unpacked and unlabelled are tax exempt.
The Council has also accepted the recommendation of State Finance Ministers to bring hotel rooms (with a tariff below Rs 1,000 per night) and hospital rooms (with a daily tariff of over Rs 5,000 per day) within the ambit of a 12 per cent GST rate slab.


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Bethesda is capitalizing more than ever on Skyrim, the latest episode of The Elder Scrolls. Released on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch, the game has become a real running gag among players who wonder, like for GTA 6, when will his suite be released. A sequel which, for the moment, has only delivered a short teaser (available below) in 2018. Since then, nothing, not even a leaked image of Bethesda studios, now owned by Microsoft, which bought its parent company, ZeniMax, for 7.5 billion dollars. And while The Elder Scrolls 6 goes low key, the studio announced an Indiana Jones game.
An announcement well received by players despite some who are worried that Bethesda will abandon The Elder Scrolls 6.
Bethesda Senior Vice President of Marketing reassure about this on Twitter.
The Elder Scrolls 6 development is not impacted by Indiana Jones development
GTA 6 and The Elder Scrolls 6, two games that are widely awaited by players, without even an announcement, even skinny. What if the second one arrives late following the announcement of a game from the Indiana Jones franchise? This would not be the case according to Pete Hines, in charge of marketing for Bethesda. It was on Twitter that the man reassured the players.
Todd (editor’s note: Todd Howard) is currently executive producer of several Bethesda games and other projects like the Fallout series (editor’s note: planned for Amazon Prime Video). His priority remains the creation of Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6, whose developments are not overshadowed by our recent announcement.
The man also evokes Starfield, announced at the same time as The Elder Scrolls 6. A game which seems to be at a standstill since 2018. As a reminder, this is an original project taking place in space, very far from an Elder Scrolls.
This reassuring post from Pete Hines should please a lot of players. Because at each new show, E3, Bethesda conference, the latter hope to finally see something concrete about The Elder Scrolls 6.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, let’s hope 2021 is the year of images revealed for the game, notably thanks to the recent releases of the PS5 and Xbox Series X / Series S.


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You may have heard that our infinitely magnanimous government has graciously decided to give us back some of the money it took from us to fund wars, bridges to nowhere and corporate executive retirement packages in the hope that we will spend our way out of a recession.
It's just the latest example of how great and just truly terrific the people we elect are.
Yesterday, the KCStar posted a little widget to help you calculate how much of your own money the gubmint is going to give to you. Kind of like when your parents used to give you an allowance when you were a kid.
tagged: Friday, test, taxes, meme, blog, recession, tax rebate


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Tilray to buy CBD from LiveWell for North American distribution
Tilray Inc. took a major step toward securing supplies of hemp-derived CBD from LiveWell Canada, days after the U.S. Congress approved the Farm Bill that will federally legalize the plant that many expect will create a huge market in Canada’s biggest trading partner.
The U.S. Farm Bill, which will remove hemp and cannabinoids extracted from it such as CBD from the Controlled Substances Act, still pends approval by President Donald Trump, which is widely expected.
Nanaimo, B.C.-based Tilray said on Monday it signed a binding letter of intent to buy hemp-derived CBD isolate from LiveWell Canada Inc., which will be sourced from both Canada and the United States starting in February 2019. Canadian regulations will allow its wholly-owned subsidiaries Tilray Canada and High Park Farms Ltd. “to potentially utilize hemp-derived CBD to increase supply of CBD medical and wellness products in Canada,” Tilray said in a release.
“The Farm Bill in the U.S. presents an opportunity to enter the hemp-derived CBD industry and capitalize on an estimated US$22-billion market,” Tilray said.
Eight Capital said in a report last week that it expects the U.S. CBD market to become a US$2.8-billion opportunity due to its potential in ailment-related use, functional food and beverage, skin care and cosmetics, and pet care.
Ottawa, Ontario-based LiveWell said it will supply Tilray with a minimum 2,400 kg of wholesale CBD isolate in 2019 with the option to increase this in 2020.
“With the legal barriers lifting, we believe the market for hemp CBD could exceed all forecasts because of the huge shift to self-directed care and wellness among consumers,” said David Rendimonti, President and CEO of LiveWell Canada.
U.S. Senator introduces amendment to fast-track STATES Act
Colorado Senator Cory Gardner is pushing for the United States Senate to vote on a major marijuana reform bill this week. On Monday, the senator introduced an amendment to a criminal justice bill currently before the Senate, which could open up the American cannabis industry to banking and allow large Canadian companies to enter some U.S. marijuana markets.
Mr. Gardener’s amendment mirrors the language of The Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States, or STATES act, which was introduced into both houses of Congress in the summer but has made little progress since. Essentially Mr. Gardner is seeking to fast-track the STATES Act through the Senate by tying it to a larger bill.
“While we are debating criminal justice reform, we need to address the threat of prosecution by the federal government for people in Colorado that are operating legal businesses under state law,” Mr. Gardner said in a statement on Monday.
The STATES Act stops short of Canadian-style federal legalization for adult recreational use. But it amends the Controlled Substances Act so that U.S. federal cannabis prohibition does not apply in states that have chosen to legalize cannabis. Advocates for the bill suggest this could open up federally regulated services, like banking, to the cannabis industry. It would also remove the threat of Drug Enforcement Administration interference in states with domestically legal industries.
The STATES Act could likewise open up some U.S. markets to large publicly listed Canadian cannabis companies currently kept away because of the federal illegality of cannabis. The TMX Group does not let Toronto Stock Exchange-listed firms participate in federally illegal businesses in the U.S.
Introducing an amendment does not guarantee it will go to vote, and it’s unclear if and when Mr. Gardener’s motion will be put to the Senate. Speaking to U.S. media on Monday, however, he said he was confident it could pass if it goes to a vote.
“If we have an honest to goodness, straight up vote, 50-vote threshold, in the United States Senate, which is a rarity sometimes, this would pass with a majority of voters in the U.S. senate, bipartisan support,” Mr. Gardner told Bloomberg on Monday.
The amendment comes only days after both houses of Congress approved hemp reform legislation as part of the 2018 Farm Bill. The bill removes hemp derivatives, such as cannabidiol (CBD) from Controlled Substances Act, potentially opening the door for a rapid expansion of the U.S. CBD market. President Donald Trump still needs to sign this bill into law.


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China's Guangdong province looks to boost ties with Mexico
Updated: 2016-05-17 23:31
MEXICO CITY -- China's southern Guangdong province is exploring opportunities to boost trade ties with Mexico, a visiting delegation from the province said on Monday.
"We want to increase inter-connectivity. We hope both sides can work on it together," said Hu Chunhua, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the Guangdong Provincial CPC Committee, at a Mexico-China (Guangdong) Cooperation Forum that gathered some 300 officials and business people from both countries.
The forum opened with the signing of 18 cooperation agreements, including projects to promote investment and to facilitate information exchange.
Hu suggested that the two countries could expand trade in seafood products, general industrial goods as well as increase high-level official exchanges.
"In the near future, Guangdong's will strive to further develop its hi-tech industries and upgrade its traditional industries based on new technologies, including intelligent manufacturing and China's Internet Plus plan," said Hu.
"We want our economy to be characterized by innovation," he added.
Mexico's Deputy Economy Minister Rogelio Garza said he wants "Chinese companies to invest in Mexico and to have Mexican companies go to China."
In particular, Garza touted Mexico's aerospace, electricity, automotive and energy sectors as potential investment opportunities for Chinese firms.
Chinese business owners have consulted the Mexican government on opportunities available to potential investors, said Garza, adding that details on private-sector investment in Mexico's special economic zones will be published in a month.
Mexico is Guangdong's leading trade partner in Latin America, and the province's 10th largest export market. Bilateral trade reached $10.4 billion last year.
- Canadian PM to introduce transgender rights bill
- Hillary Clinton says her husband not to serve in her cabinet
- New York cake show designs fool your eyes
- ROK prosecutors seek 17-year prison term for attacker of US envoy
- World's biggest plane leaves Australia
- Conference calls for females to be put at forefront of development


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Machinima releases trailer for Street Fighter: Resurrection
The network’s first original Go90 original series will feature appearances by several of its biggest online influencers.
Machinima’s first Go90 series to bow in March
Street Fighter: Resurrection is based on the popular Capcom series, which has sold more than 35 million units worldwide.
Assassin’s Fist director would be ‘grey and old’ if adaptation was left to studios
Joey Ansah discussed the 12-episode web series Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist at YouTube Space LA ahead of the video game adaptation’s debut on Machinima.
Machinima to knock out Assassin’s Fist
The exclusive video game-based series from co-writer, director and actor Joey Ansah will be available for binge-viewing on the male-centric, youth-targeting web portal.


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Fundlaunch is your quick summary of notable fund launches for startups. This segment includes announcements on startup funds launched by Jungle Ventures, Accel Partners, CSIR,... Read More
Retail technology firm, SnapBizz has raised $7.2 million led by Jungle Ventures, Taurus Value Creation, Konly Venture and Blume Ventures.
The freshly raised capital will be utilized... Read More
Pokkt, a mobile video advertising platform in India and Southeast Asia, has... Read More
Global Marketplace from India and Singapore for Business and Industrial supplies... Read More
Budget accommodation service RedDoorz, owned and operated by Singapore-based technology startup Commeasure, has raised... Read More
Singapore-based VC firm Jungle Ventures, which actively invests in India, is to secure $100 million in its second fund. This is ten times bigger in comparison to ... Read More
After secured $4.6 million in December 2014, Bengaluru-based home design and decor start-up LivSpace has now raised $8 million from existing investors Helion ... Read More
F&B industry Mobikon has raised $2.3 million in Series – A 2, Internal growth funding, led by Singapore based Jungle Ventures. The company plans to use the raised... Read More
Noida and Singapore-based hotel booking engine, Commeasure has raised $1 million led by venture capital firm, Jungle Ventures, whose portfolio company... Read More
Bengaluru-based mobile payment startup Momoe has raised $1.2 million in seed round led by IDG Ventures India and Jungle Ventures with participation from India... Read More
Data intelligence platform Tookitaki has secured USD 1 million in seed funding led by Jungle Ventures with participation from Japan and Singapore-based VC fund Rebright ... Read More
Bengaluru-based e-commerce startup, LivSpace has secured USD 4.6 million from Helion Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners and Jungle Ventures, TechinAsia reports.
Home... Read More
Online Fashion e-tailer, Pomelo has received USD 1.6 million in Series A funding round from Jungle Ventures, with participation from Skype Co-founder Toivo Annus, ... Read More
POKKT (Pocket), an alternate monetization platform for App Developers & Publishers, and part of GSF Accelerator’s first batch in Mumbai, has announced its Series A funding... Read More
Singapore based, social payments platform, Fastacash has recently closed USD 3 Mn in Series A funding led by Jungle Ventures, SPRING SEEDS Capital, the investment arm of SPRING Singapore,... Read More
GSF backed POKKT, an alternate mobile app monetization platform has raised seed round of funding led by Jungle Ventures and Samir Bangara, co-founder and MD of Qyuki.
Financial terms... Read More
Singapore based, e-loyalty program startup Taggo has raised Series A funding led by Jungle Ventures and SPRING SEEDS Capital.
The amount of the funding has been left undisclosed ... Read More
Bangalore based microlending and fundraising platform Milaap has raised USD 1.1 million from Jungle Ventures, reports TechinAsia.
Other participating investors include Lionrock... Read More


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China and Uruguay elevate bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, expressing commitment to pursuing a bilateral free trade agreement and exploring an FTA with the Mercosur trade bloc, marking a significant diplomatic development with potential implications for trade dynamics in the region.
In a significant diplomatic move, China and Uruguay jointly announced the elevation of their bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership. In a joint statement, Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou and Chinese Premier Li Qiang expressed their commitment to advancing a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) and exploring an FTA between China and the Mercosur trade bloc. China and Uruguay also agreed to promote Belt and Road cooperation, and strengthen the industrial chains between the two countries to promote trade and services supply. This strategic upgrade emphasizes the commitment of both nations to expand and deepen their cooperation across various fronts.
Uruguay, aligning with its Mercosur counterparts Brazil and Argentina, expressed its interest in pursuing a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with China. Uruguay's pursuit of FTAs reflects its desire to secure favorable trade conditions, with a focus on addressing tariff challenges for its key export, beef, to China, where it currently faces higher tariffs compared to competitors like Australia and New Zealand.
CHINA TO CORNER PARAGUAY WITH NEW PARTNERSHIP
The historical backdrop reveals a slowing of regional integration within Mercosur, marked by trade disputes and strained relations, notably following economic crises in Brazil and Argentina. Uruguay's pursuit of an FTA with China and efforts to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership have sparked internal disagreements within Mercosur, with Brazil supportive and Argentina expressing concerns about potential economic repercussions for the bloc.
Beijing's keen interest in an FTA with Mercosur is viewed as a strategic move which could exert pressure on Paraguay, the only South American nation maintaining ties with Taipei, a territory that China claims as its own.


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Toyota and Hyundai have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together alongside Ampol and Pacific Energy to develop hydrogen refuelling infrastructure in Australia.
The announcement came on the back of a solid week of messaging from Toyota around its multi-approach strategy to decarbonisation at the Tokyo motor show.
The Japanese giant expects to head into the next decade and beyond with multiple bets across battery-electric vehicles, hydrogen, synthetic fuels as well as traditional internal-combustion engines.
Toyota and Hyundai already have hydrogen-powered vehicles in Australia with the Mirai and Nexo, respectively, although neither model is being sold directly to the public, with the cars instead leased to select organisations and businesses that can use one of the less than ten hydrogen refuelling stations nationally.
Ampol announced in August it’s working on developing additional hydrogen refuelling stations on the back of a report by the CSIRO, which recommended energy providers and the government to ramp up support for the technology or risk falling behind significantly compared to Europe.
Speaking to the media about the announcement last week, Sean Hanley, the vice president of sales and marketing at Toyota Australia, said that the company’s fuel cell business was ‘growing steadily’.
“It began with local trials of Mirai and then with the establishment of Victoria’s first hydrogen production, storage and refuelling facility at Altona,” Mr Hanley said
“In 2021, we launched the second-generation Mirai in an extended program where it is being leased by a select group of pioneering organisations and businesses and just last week, we announced plans to assemble up to 100 fuel-cell generators at our Altona facility.”
Mr Hanley admitted that for hydrogen to work, manufacturers need to work together to get the refuelling infrastructure to a point where it becomes more viable.
“Both Toyota and Hyundai have fuel-cell electric vehicles in customer programs while Ampol and Pacific Energy are heavily invested in growing sustainable energy development and distribution,” he said.
“This MOU is a vital development because hydrogen ecosystems must involve sectors uniting so they can bring together their skills, technologies and applications.”
Although no specific details of what the MOU will mean were given, it seems likely that Toyota and Hyundai will now help fund – alongside Ampol and Pacific Energy – additional refuelling stations across the country.
According to Mr Hanley, the sale of hydrogen-powered Toyota vehicles is a possibility around 2025 if the infrastructure is mature enough, although there was no solid confirmation of that taking place or an estimation of the vehicle costs (which are higher than battery-electric vehicles in other markets).


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When you look at the Victoria, pawn shops have observed little or no users arriving which have activities to pawn and you may a surge in consumers in past times partners days.
“My personal conversion process was through the roof,” told you Received Layton, holder of Bay Roadway Broker. “However the cabinets to have pawns are off by the in the 75 for every single penny. We haven’t viewed anything in this way since 1998. It’s somewhat uncommon.”
In the less than six months’ time, he said, their retail cabinets might be empty off bits of worth you to definitely consumers have not redeemed.
The guy features the downturn into the pawns towards glut regarding Canada Crisis Response Benefit currency to help men and women impacted by COVID-19. The newest federal benefit brings somebody out of work because of the pandemic $500 per week for 16 days.
“Those who do not require currency won’t need to pawn their stuff,” said Layton, that has been in operation having twenty five years.
Doug Scott, manager out of Esquimalt Trade, account an equivalent problem, with desires in order to pawn issues down no less than 29% and you will conversion increasing in the past couple of months.
“As the transformation prevent is made for new short-term, pawns was all of our bread-and-butter and you may influences enough time-name profits,” said Scott, the following-age bracket driver of 44-year-dated business. “Nevertheless, I am not saying begrudging precisely what the bodies has been doing.”
The guy mentioned that he could be harming to have circumstances to own his cupboards and you can anticipates it might be at the least 6 months until the globe returns to normal.
Inside the Calgary, John Sanford has been a pawnbroker getting 20 years and you will told you they have never seen things adore it.
“We rushed on the financial before this happened and i also had all sorts of cash in a position. I was thinking it actually was going to be a good bonanza. However, nope. No way,” said Sanford, co-holder away from Rocky Mountain Pawn inside the Calgary.
“It absolutely was amazing how much cash blogs we had immediately following 2015 when the fresh new oils went on the container. We’d loads of content. And in addition we have nothing.”
Sanford on average sees 15 in order to 30 pawns every single day, but to the 24 hours the Nebraska auto title loans other day, he would only got one to by mid-day.
Pawnshops provide some body currency and you will generally speaking provide them with thirty days so you can get back, pay off the loan and you will recover its things
“About somebody there is spoke so you’re able to and that have come in, brand new economy’s awash with free money. There is certainly some individuals bragging how much they have been delivering towards CERB,” he told you.
The guy told you the payday-loan providers has also been inspired, regardless if he or she is convinced his providers tend to “get back inside spades” soon while the anyone begin to pawn several of those things it bought along with their CERB cheques
On the other hand, Sanford told you, items that was basically resting in sites for a long time was in fact offered. Silver rings, stores, Rolex watches, Tvs, video-online game consoles and stereos flew off of the shelves early in the newest fitness crisis. Instruments have also been popular.
“So far as pawns go, this is gonna be the new worst day just like the 1982 to have credit out currency. Thirty day period out-of today, we would not also create enough currency to invest our book.”
“Virtually everyone else coming through the shop is wanting to blow currency using their CERB cheques and looking to go shopping to help you safer their demands.”
Brand new pay check-loan industry is together with troubled, told you Alan Evetts, a director of Canadian User Money Organization and a holder out of MyCanadaPayday from inside the Vancouver.
In the first six-weeks of one’s pandemic, numbers along the industry was consistently off about 84 percent off up until the crisis, he told you. “Anything altered radically. The latest request could have been completely decimated from the COVID.
“I believe you can find issues riding it. Using was as a result of a big studies when you are people are in the household. And you can life is less after you don’t log off your residence.”
Evetts in addition to blames higher unemployment to the dropoff, since money is actually determined by people with an upcoming pay-day in order to pay them.


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The successor to the popular mid-range phone, the OnePlus Nord, is heading our way with an announcement date officially set for July 22 for Europe and India. Now, OnePlus confirms another key feature of the new phone in a teaser on Twitter.
The OnePlus Nord 2 will have the same display as the OG OnePlus
The OnePlus Nord 2 will sport a 6.43-inch AMOLED display with a 90Hz smooth refresh rate, and it will be HDR10+ certified. One difference that will most likely be present here will be the selfie camera. On the OG OnePlus Nord, it is a pill-shaped punch-hole notch, while the OnePlus Nord 2 is expected to rock a circular punch-hole.
Nord 2 comes with a 6.43 inch 90 Hz Fluid AMOLED display that swipes so smooth you’ll think your fingers are dancing ballet. And it’s HDR 10+ certified.
Another thing we know about the OnePlus Nord 2 is the MediaTek Dimensity 1200-AI chipset, which will power the device, in a first for OnePlus phones. Before that, OnePlus phones were always equipped with a chip from Qualcomm.
We also expect the phone to come with a triple-camera setup, with a 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor for the main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide cam, and a 2MP black-and-white sensor, according to recent leaks. On the front, a selfie camera of 32MP is expected. Keeping the lights on will reportedly be a 4,500mAh battery cell. This is an improvement of around 10% in comparison to the OG Nord.
The OnePlus Nord 2 will be announced July 22 for Europe and India, while announcement or release date for the US is still unknown at this point.


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Ollie's to open outlet store on Westport Road
A large Ollie's Bargain Outlet store, a chain whose motto is "Good stuff, cheap," will open its doors at 9 a.m. May 6 in the Rolling Hills Plaza on Westport Road.
It will be the chain's second Louisville-area store, operating in space vacated by Incredible Dave's.
An Ollie's store has operated at 9070 Dixie Highway since February 2012. That store has about 38,000 square feet of space, or slightly larger than the Westport Road store, according to Ollie's spokesman Zach Chizar.
To help celebrate the opening of the Westport Road site, reigning NASCAR Spring Cup champion Kevin Harvick will be on site to greet customers. Beginning at 7:30 a.m., 250 tickets will be distributed on a first come, first served basis (limit one per person). At 10 a.m., ticketholders will be able to meet and have a photo taken with Harvick. He also will autograph one piece of memorabilia.
The Ollie's chain has been an active supporter of the Kevin Harvick Foundation, Harvick said in a release.
The new Ollie's will employ about 50 people. The chain has about 4,400 employees and 181 stores in 16 states.
Ollie's Bargain Outlet Inc. was founded in 1982 and is a large retailer of closeouts and salvage merchandise, offering items at deeply discounted prices.
Ollie's offers a wide variety of brand name merchandise in every department – food, books, housewares, toys, electronics, domestics, clothing, furniture, health and beauty, flooring and seasonal items.
The chain is based in Harrisburg, Pa., and its website says the stores sells "merchandise of all descriptions and some beyond description." Ollie's works closely with financial institutions and with banks when they dispose of bankruptcy inventories and have liquidation sales.
Incredible Dave's closed on Westport Road last August, after the business filed bankruptcy. The business included a restaurant and a large games and arcade area.
Reporter Sheldon S. Shafer can be reached at (502) 582-7089. Follow him on Twitter at @sheldonshafer.
For more information about Ollie's Bargain Outlet, visit www.ollies.usor find us on Twitter at @OlliesOutlet.


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Virgin Atlantic Cargo is to launch a second daily service between London Heathrow and Johannesburg in October – creating additional cargo capacity to and from South Africa.
Commencing 28 October 2018, the additional daily frequency will be operated by one of the airline’s Boeing 787-9 aircraft, which can carry up to 24 tonnes of cargo.
The new service will provide a welcome boost for customers who contributed to Virgin Atlantic’s year-on-year growth in cargo volumes in 2017. The airline saw a five per cent growth in business to South Africa and a four per cent rise in tonnage ex Johannesburg.
In April, Virgin Atlantic Cargo will also be opening a local Contact Centre in Johannesburg to support their customers in South Africa.
Virgin Atlantic Cargo director of sales, Steve Buckerfield said: “Virgin has been serving the Johannesburg market for 22 years and we continue to receive outstanding customer support. 2017 was a particularly strong year for both north and southbound cargo volumes, so the addition of a second daily frequency is great news for us and our customers.”
In addition to general cargo, the airline has seen an increase in the volume of courier and express business from the US and the UK to South Africa, driven by e-commerce, as well as regular shipments of cars. Northbound traffic includes high volumes of perishables for the UK market as well as general cargo.


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Maumee Police are looking for a woman they say snatched an
elderly woman's wallet and went on a shopping spree with her credit cards.
Police say the woman stole the wallet while the elderly
woman was shopping for groceries. The suspect then immediately used the victim's
credit card to buys several hundred dollars in gift cards, according to Maumee
Police say the suspect was driving a silver SUV with an unknown
Anyone with information is asked to call Maumee
Police Detective Andrew Dean at 419-897-7033.
Two adventurous kayakers in Argentina experienced the thrill of a lifetime following an encounter with a pod of massive whales. The video was taken somewhere off the coast of Puerto Madryn, Argentina.More >
Two adventurous kayakers in Argentina experienced the thrill of a lifetime following an encounter with a pod of massive whales.More >


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Deal of the week: Ford Focus
Save £5,725 on a 1.0-litre EcoBoost Zetec.
Ford's impressive new 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine promises to downsize fuel bills in the latest Focus - and specialist drivethedeal.com has downsized the price, too. It's offering nearly £6,000 off the higher-powered 123bhp Zetec model, taking it to only £13,320. The car promises 56.5mpg economy and 114g/km CO2 emissions.
To view the full Ford range, visit the CarBuyer Ford reviews page.
Best new car deals 2022: this week’s top car offers
Engine management light: top 5 causes of amber engine warning light
Top 10 cheapest electric cars 2022


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USA: Tasty Baking Company reports record second quarter sales
Tasty Baking Company (NYSE:TBC), today announced financial results for the second quarter and twenty-six weeks ended June 30, 2001. For the second quarter, gross sales were $66.5 million compared with $62.9 million last year, an increase of 5.8%. Gross sales, less discounts and allowances, resulted in net sales of $43.0 million compared with $41.7 million reported last year, an increase of 3.1%. Net income for the thirteen weeks was $2.5 million compared with $2.2 million reported last year, an increase of 12.3%. Net income per diluted share was $0.31 compared with $0.28 reported last year, an increase of 10.7%.
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With the holiday season just around the corner, here’s an interesting piece of news particularly for those on the heavier side. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn suggest that holiday and eating patterns could be affecting the obesity rates. The experts found that eating patterns change considerably and individuals must incorporate guidelines into their food pyramid for weekend and holiday eating.
Even the most dedicated dieters may find it difficult to maintain their eating habits during the holidays. Yes, the holidays could actually be challenging, but the new research indicates that may be we need to watch our weekends as well. They could be just as detrimental.
Experts analyzed two years’ worth of data on consumers’ eating behavior. Delving deeper they observed that not only the quantity but interestingly the quality also of foods consumed during a meal and over the day on weekends and holidays were much different.
This new finding was put forth by J. Jeffrey Inman, a University of Pittsburgh professor of marketing and associate dean for research in the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, and his coauthor, Adwait Khare, Quinnipiac University professor of marketing.
Investigators are of the opinion that the daily caloric intake on weekends and holidays is just as important as the nutritional value of the food eaten. Feasts like those on Labor Day barbeques and Thanksgiving Day seem to center upon bonding with family and friends over tables loaded with high-calorie foods.
Inman suggests that as the quantity and quality of food consumed during this period changes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture must include recommendations for holiday and weekend eating into its food pyramid guidelines.
He further mentions that comprehending eating patterns as well as being aware that eating habit on weekends could play havoc on the diet as on weekends could help fight obesity. It would not only aid consumers but also doctors and nutritionists who could acquire more knowledge to combat obesity.
The research was published in the Fall 2009 issue of the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing.


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The fifth anniversary of Tech in Asia Singapore was a tech and entrepreneurial storm with talks from industry heavyweights, 200 startups and 4,000 attendees.
Find out how education and technology in Cambodia can combine with the use of interactive eBook technology at an event hosted by Rotati.
The DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia is an Asia-wide competition that supports and recognises social enterprises.
Barcamp explores the technology, tourism and business in Ratanakiri this year with the theme “Technology and Tourism”.
Cambodian entrepreneur Kongngy Hav has been selected to pitch his social enterprise My Dream Home, in Mumbai, India, at the Global Sankalp Forum.


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Pre-Holiday Consumer Sentiment Toward Tech Spending Suggests ‘Wait and See’ Approach
Thu, 30 Oct 2014 11:50:59 -0400
The latest data released today by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® shows consumer confidence toward technology spending in October slipped, while sentiment toward the overall economy increased.
The CEA Index of Consumer Technology Expectations (ICTE), which measures consumer expectations about technology spending, decreased by 3.2 points in October to reach 87.
“Sentiment toward technology spending suggests some tech buying was pulled into September with recent product releases,” said Dr. Shawn DuBravac, CEA’s chief economist and senior director of research. “The decline was surprising considering a solid economic outlook, but suggests consumers are taking a ‘wait and see’ approach, building up for November and the holiday shopping surge.”
The CEA Index of Consumer Expectations (ICE), which measures consumer expectations about the broader economy, increased 5.3 points from last month to reach 174 in October.
“Overall sentiment toward the economy is showing surprising resiliency in the face of continued geopolitical concerns, as well as volatility in the domestic financial markets,” said DuBravac. “Signs that consumers are shrugging off uncertainty supports a positive holiday outlook overall.”
According to CEA’s 2014 overall holiday outlook, total tech spending will increase 2.5 percent (up from 0.9 percent growth in 2013) to reach $33.76 billion, the highest levels of consumer spending on tech since CEA began tracking holiday spending in 1994.
Sennheiser Surround Microphone System, Headphones Nominated for TEC Award
Wed, 29 Oct 2014 12:09:29 -0400
Audio specialist Sennheiser announced that its Esfera surround microphone system and its HD 8 DJ headphones have been nominated for the 30th Annual TEC awards.
The Esfera system, which has been nominated in the Signal Processing Hardware category, consists of the SPM 8000 two-channel microphone unit and the SPB 8000 processing unit. The microphone unit features the typical advantages of RF condenser microphones: natural and detailed sound, transparency, ruggedness and high resistance to adverse climatic conditions. The processing unit uses an algorithm perfectly matched to the microphones to generate a 5.1 surround signal with sampling rates of up to 96 kHz. An integrated compressor ensures a broadcast-friendly signal. For ease of operation, the processing unit uses four directly selectable presets. These can be modified via an Ethernet interface to adapt to local conditions, including the settings for the gain of the individual channels, front and surround focus, surround delay, rotation, filters and cut-off frequencies, compressor, make up gain, output gain, limiter and windshield compensation.
The HD8 DJ, which is a closed, circumaural headphone, has been nominated in the Headphone/Earpiece Technology category. Used by the world’s leading music producers and DJs for 25 years, the HD8 DJ headphones are designed for the most demanding users and punishing professional environments. Constructed of premium metal-crafted reinforcement parts, the HD8 DJ are built to deliver on stage or in the studio. Its iconic metal pivot rings allows the user to swivel the ear cups up to 210° for easy one-ear monitoring at the turntable. Soft, durable ear cushions ensure a comfortable fit, while virtually eliminating background noise.
Presented by the TEC Foundation, the TEC Awards is the pro audio industry’s most prestigious awards show honoring outstanding achievement in product innovation and sound production. The 30th Annual TEC Awards will be presented during the 2015 NAMM Show, to be held in Anaheim, Calif. in January 2015. The nominations, based on product entries by audio manufacturers, were made by a select panel of 130 professionals in numerous audio specialties. Products and projects released and in commercial use during the period of September 1, 2013 to August 31, 2014, were eligible for nomination.
Greg Beebe, president of Sennheiser USA, commented: “Sennheiser is once again honored to be nominated for Outstanding Technical Achievement Awards by the TEC Foundation. The Esfera system and the HD8 DJ represent our continued commitment to product innovation and our passion for achieving great sound.”
FCC Joins Global Privacy Enforcement Network
Tue, 28 Oct 2014 10:40:34 -0400
The Federal Communications Commission announced that it has joined the Global Privacy Enforcement Network (GPEN), an international group of privacy regulators and enforcers. GPEN seeks to promote and support law enforcement cooperation and collaboration on cross-border privacy enforcement actions. GPEN members include approximately fifty data protection authorities from around the world. The FCC will join the Federal Trade Commission in representing the United States in GPEN proceedings.
“We live in an interconnected world where threats to consumer privacy and data security often require the cooperation of numerous law enforcement agencies around the world,” said Travis LeBlanc, Chief of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau. “Every day Americans continue to have their personal data compromised by attacks from beyond our borders – like phone scams operated by identity thieves based thousands of miles away. If we are to detect, disrupt, and dismantle these persistent global privacy assaults, it is critical that we work closely with our international partners abroad, as well as our federal, state, and local partners here at home.”
The FCC has a long history of working to protect the privacy of American consumers. Congress has put in place strong, Commission-enforced protections for personally identifiable information, like laws against collecting or sharing certain information without customer consent, and laws requiring providers to secure this information against unauthorized access. The Commission has also adopted its own rules to further protect consumer privacy, like rules governing the security and use of customer proprietary network information (CPNI), which includes billing and location data, and Do-Not-Call rules to combat intrusive phone calls.
The Commission’s Enforcement Bureau has vigorously enforced these privacy laws and regulations. This month, the Commission announced its intent to fine phone carriers TerraCom and YourTel $10 million for deficient data security practices that exposed the personal information of up to 305,000 consumers to anyone with Internet access. Last month, the Enforcement Bureau secured a $7.4 million settlement with Verizon to address the company’s unlawful marketing to two million customers without their consent or notification of their privacy rights as required under the CPNI rules, the largest privacy action in the Commission’s history. And earlier this year the Bureau reached a $7.5 million settlement with Sprint for its failure to honor consumer requests to opt out of phone and text marketing communications in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the largest Do-Not-Call settlement in the Commission’s history.
The Global Privacy Enforcement Network grew out of a 2007 Recommendation on Cross-Border Cooperation in the Enforcement of Laws Protecting Privacy, adopted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). That Recommendation called for OECD member countries to establish an informal network of privacy enforcement authorities, and take appropriate steps to: (1) “improve their domestic frameworks for privacy law enforcement to better enable their authorities to co- operate with foreign authorities”; (2) develop effective international mechanisms to facilitate cross-border privacy law enforcement co-operation”; (3) provide mutual assistance ... in the enforcement of laws protecting privacy”; and (4) engage relevant stakeholders in discussion and activities aimed at furthering co- operation in the enforcement of laws protecting privacy.” Following through on these steps led to the creation of GPEN in 2010.
Among the fifty members of GPEN are the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Dutch Data Protection Authority, European Data Protection Supervisor (European Union), Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés of France, Federal Data Protection Commission of Germany, Federal Institute for Access to Information and Data Protection of Mexico, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of New Zealand, and United Kingdom Information Commissioner’s Office.
The Walt Disney Company, Panasonic, Dolby Laboratories Contribute to SMPTE Centennial Campaign
Mon, 27 Oct 2014 12:55:09 -0400
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) announced that The Walt Disney Company, Panasonic, and Dolby Laboratories have made contributions totaling $1 million to the SMPTE Centennial Celebration Campaign’s Next Century Fund. These gifts, formally recognized today at the SMPTE 2014 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition, are the largest financial commitments in the Society’s history.
“It is our great pleasure to lend our support to SMPTE, both in terms of leadership and financial support, as the Society prepares for its Centennial Celebration,” said Vince Roberts, executive vice president of Global Operations and chief technology officer, Disney/ABC Television Group. “For almost 100 years, SMPTE has played a critical role in advancing the art, science, and craft of the moving image and its sound. We are proud to partner with SMPTE as it continues its groundbreaking work in moving-imagery education, engineering, and research.”
“We can’t think of any organization more worthy of our support than SMPTE,” said Kunihiko Miyagi, director, Professional AV Business Unit, Imaging Network Business Division in Panasonic Corporation’s AVC Networks Company. “The ongoing role the Society plays in advancing standards and technical education for our industry is absolutely critical to our success, and to that of all SMPTE members. Panasonic salutes SMPTE as it enters its second century of advocacy and advancement for the field of moving imagery.”
“SMPTE has made a remarkable and long-standing commitment to education and to the development of standards that support ever-greater creative and technical achievements in the field of motion imaging and sound,” said Pat Griffis, executive director of technology strategy, Office of the CTO, Dolby Laboratories. “The Society’s centennial celebration is an ideal opportunity to recognize this work and its enormous influence on our industry.”
The SMPTE Centennial Campaign has been established in recognition of the Society’s 100-year anniversary in 2016. The campaign is led by an advisory committee consisting of Wendy Aylsworth and Chuck Dages (retired) of Warner Bros.; Peter Fannon of Panasonic; Richard Friedel of Fox; Charles Jablonski of SMPTE; Peter Ludé of RealD; William Miller of Miltag Media Technology; Chuck Pagano (retired) of ESPN; Bob Ross of CBS; and Larry Thorpe of Canon.
“Without question, SMPTE’s next hundred years will be very different from the first. As our industry evolves, new developments are challenging every aspect of the media workflow — from technology tools to business models,” said Barbara Lange, executive director of SMPTE. “With their generous gifts, The Walt Disney Company, Panasonic, and Dolby Laboratories are providing a tremendous boost to the Society’s ongoing expansion and evolution across our three pillars of activity: standards development, membership development, and education programs.”
The Next Century Fund will support specific SMPTE standards activities that speed the development, adoption, use, and understanding of new industry standards, as well as creating tools such as a repository for test materials that are crucial for certifying new IP-based workflows. In the area of membership development, SMPTE’s goals include international Section expansion as well as improving programming and networking for students. In education, the Society will focus on creating educational programs that support rapidly changing industry needs; establishing regular conference events throughout the world; and developing and deploying educational programs that serve all levels of membership.
Markertek Supports Philadelphia Eagles With SMPTE Fiber, Customer Service
Fri, 24 Oct 2014 11:44:17 -0400
As part of the $125 million renovation of Lincoln Financial Field, the Philadelphia Eagles added 10 Sony F55 4K cameras to capture in-game content. To connect those camera locations to the video-control room, the team tapped Markertek to supply SMPTE fiber, tactical fiber, and telecast gear.
“Markertek is my go-to for any thing at all for our production, and that’s probably because of their customer service and the fact that they do handle a lot of their own stuff,” explains David Sullivan, building AV engineer, Philadelphia Eagles. “I’ve never had a problem, but I know that, if I’m buying their brand [and] I had a problem, they’re going to back it up.”
The Eagles selected Markertek’s SMPTE fiber cable after testing several brands side-by-side for durability, cable size, and more. “We actually had some other SMPTE cable in the building that fell apart already, but the Markertek cable has stood the test of the first six weeks of football,” Sullivan continues. “So far, so good."
Manufactured in the company’s LEMO-, Neutrik opticalCON-, and Canare Fiber-Certified Fiber Lab in Saugerties, NY, Markertek’s SMPTE fiber is hybrid fiber-optic and copper cable that connects the camera-control unit (CCU) of each F55 with the video-control room. Located on The Linc’s press level, the control room feeds content to videoboards throughout the venue, including two 10-mm end-zone displays manufactured by Panasonic.
“From start to finish, we’re manufacturing some of the highest-quality fiber optics in the industry,” says Dan Coscarella, proprietary sales manager, Markertek. “Our defined specs exceed what the industry spec is, so we’re really building a quality brand for our customers.
Markertek also supplied the team with tactical fiber cables, which are not installed in a fixed location. Rather, the cables are kept spooled and can be deployed for any live-production need: capturing fan reactions in the stands, halftime events on the field, postgame reaction in the studio.
The SMPTE and tactical fiber were added to the Eagles’ existing triax infrastructure as part of the renovation, which was completed prior to this season. Diversified Systems installed and integrated the venue’s fiber infrastructure in addition to serving as the video-control-room integrator.
“There’s 500 varieties of each product, but we don’t want to sell the one we want to sell. We want to sell the one that makes the most sense for the particular customer, and, to get there, we spend a lot of time training the staff and making sure the staff knows what their customers really are looking for,” says Coscarella.


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The economy of Pakistan is under a lot of external pressure. The repercussions are being inflicted on every level of the nation’s infrastructure. Pakistan’s automobile industry is among those that suffered the mightiest blows. As a result, following the footsteps of almost all automakers, Master Changan Motors Limited (MCML), too, has sent an official notice instructing an increase in prices of all models available in the market. With a difference ranging up to PKR 1,050,000. Today we shed light on the latest rise in Changan Alsvin’s price.
Changan Alsvin was introduced back in 2021. the car comes available in three variants, the 1.37L Comfort, 1.5L Comfort, and 1.5L Lumiere. Powered by two engine variants, a 1.5 litre Blue core engine produces 105 horsepower with 145nm of torque and is paired with a 5-speed DCT Transmission. The latter is a 1.3 litre engine that produces 95 Horsepower with 135nm of torque, paired with Manual Transmission. It comes in 14-inch steel wheels for the 1.37L Comfort and 15-inch Alloy wheels for the 1.5L Comfort and 1.5L Lumiere.
Internal features include Cruise control, Mobile Mapping, a 7-inch infotainment system, Dual Airbags on the front for passengers and drivers, Electronic stability control, Hill Assist, Rear Parking Sensors and a camera.
Alvin 2023 offers the best fuel economy for any sedan in the current market. Driving and traffic conditions play a factor, but 14 kilometres per litre in the city and up to 17 kilometres per litre on the highway are unheard of.
Changan Alsvin’s price increased.
Master Changan Motors Limited was compelled to increase car prices due to uncertain economic conditions and high inflation. MCML has cited depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar, increased freight charges, and rising prices of raw materials and operational costs as reasons for the hike. With immediate effect, the new prices of all variants of Changan Alsvin are as follows:
|Models||Old Price (Rs.)||Revised Price (Rs.)||Increase (Rs.)|
|Alsvin 1.37 Comfort Manual||3,394,000||3,890,000||505,000|
|Alsvin 1.5 Comfort DCT||3,649,000||4,199,000||550,000|
|Alsvin 1.5 Lumiere DCT||3,844,000||4,499,000||655,000|